Over history, Hamlet has been criticized heavily by literary critics, mainly over his mental psyche. Questions have been asked about how Hamlet’s mind works and what drives him to be so hesitant in the majority of the play. Carl Jung’s theory on human psychology archetypes offer an effective way of getting insight to Hamlet’s questionable and hesitant actions which ultimately gives an in depth understanding to Hamlet’s conclusion.
Carl Jung, an influential psychiatrist used his theory of archetypes to gain a better understanding of characters motivations of actions as well as personality traits. Jung’s three distinct archetypes were The shadow, the anima and animus, and the Self, all symbolizing different parts of a person’s personality. The shadow archetype represents unknown characteristics of the main protagonist, in this case, Hamlet. The shadow self also symbolizes many darker aspects of Hamlet’s that are not always apparent. An example of the shadow self is the ghost who urges Hamlet to revenge his father’s murder. It is unclear if the ghost is truly the spirit of King Hamlet, an illusion, or something else entirely. The ghost says to Hamlet “But know, thou noble youth, the serpent that did sting thy father’s life now wears his crown,” (pg 24). Hamlet’s suspicion that his father’s murder was no accident was not fully realized until the ghost enlightened him with this encounter. When Hamlet becomes complacent in his quest for vengeance, the Ghost appears and urges him to into action. The presence of this archetype represents Hamlet’s suppressed suspicion that his father’s death was not merely an accident, and a longstanding urge to exact revenge. This shadow archetype reveals Hamlet’s inner drive to kill his uncle, and functions as a window to his most basic instincts.
Save your time!
We can take care of your essay
- Proper editing and formatting
- Free revision, title page, and bibliography
- Flexible prices and money-back guarantee
The second archetype that is present is the anima archetype. The anima is represented by a person of the opposite sex, and for Hamlet, is a manifestation of feminine impulses in his behavior. Hamlet comes across two different anima archetypes in the play, Gertrude and Ophelia. Hamlet and Ophelia were at one time lovers, however Hamlet ended the relationship once he began to focus on avenging his father. Hamlet’s sanity is questioned at various parts of the play leading to the quote from Polonius, Ophelia’s father “Your noble son is mad….I swear I use no art at all. That he is mad” (pg 36). Ophelia, ironically is only able to evade repression of her set role in society through going insane. Ophelia symbolizes crumbling mindset as he tries to escape social constructs in order to become a character of action.
The last archetype of Jung’s theory is the self archetype. The self archetype is a final mixture of the other archetypes coming together to act as one in one’s personality. Hamlet’s hesitation throughout the play seems to build from a difference between his other archetypes. Hamlet’s morals and underlying beliefs previously held him almost paralyzed to the action of murdering Claudius even when he had the chance. It is not until the very end of the play when Claudius is finally killed by Hamlet that the self archetype in the play is revealed. In the literary criticism The Psyche and Reasoning of Hamlet it is stated that “By viewing the characters as different personifications of Hamlet, the ending of the play takes on a vivid new meaning. All of the main characters, excluding Horatio, are killed, either by each other or by accidental reasons. Their deaths represent Hamlet’s inability to reconcile the warring aspects of his personality.” This alludes to the fact that in this scene Hamlet’s archetypes die, he apart of that death.
Hamlet’s morals and personality restrict him from performing the act he seems to want to commit, killing Claudius. Once he finally kills him, he seems to have the mindset that he has fulfilled the ghosts, or his fathers, demand to revenge him and due to this, he can die knowing that Claudius has paid for his sins. It is easier for Hamlet to feel this way after he sees his mother, Gertrude drink the cup filled with poison that Claudius meant for Hamlet to drink. When Laertes informs him that Gertrude is dying due to Claudius’ intentions, Hamlet acts out of character finally and stabs Claudius with a poisoned sword, killing him.
By viewing all characters of Hamlet through Jung’s archetypes, a better understanding of the underlying themes can be made. Although the archetype theory was published long after Hamlet was published, it is still an effective tool for all literature to help gain insight on the motives and reasoning of a certain character’s actions, in this case, Hamlet and his hesitation.
Reading Hamlet through a Jungian lens clarifies that morality is an essential component of the human psyche, and without it, a person can be destroyed by their own self-interest. A popular belief in the renaissance period was that the world is a stage, and everyone in it is playing a different part. In Hamlet, the parts these characters are playing are merely different aspects of Hamlet himself.
Stuck on your essay?
